Taipei's mayoral candidates fail to promote gay rights

Independent candidate Neil Peng was seen as the only candidate to have a positive attitude towards gay people because on a scale ranging from 3 to minus-3 points, Peng received the highest score at 1.5 points. He was followed by independent candidate Ko Wen-je at minus-1. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Sean Lien trailed last with minus-3 points, according totaipeitimes.com.

Taiwan is preparing to hold local mayoral and other local elections on November 29.

Victoria Hsu, a lawyer and executive director of the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, said Peng’s early work as a screenwriter helped raise his awareness of the gay community.

However, Hsu condemned Peng’s recent demand that President Ma Ying-jeou and National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung “come out” as a couple.

“No one has the right, ever, to demand that a gay person come out, considering the institutional pressure that gays and lesbians endure,” Hsu told taipeitimes.com.